Electric or other railway



(No Model.)

T. P. CHANDLER, Jr.

ELECTRIC OR OTHER RAILWAY.

Patented Aug. 3, 1886.

THEOPHILUS P. CHANDLER, JR, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

ELECTRIC OR OTHER RAILWAY.

ZPEIJIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 346,465, dated August3, 1886,

Application filed June 3'3, 1885.

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THEOPHILUS P. CHAND- LER, Jr., of the city andcounty of Philadelphia,and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a newand useful Improvement inElectricand other Railways, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention has reference to railways,particularly those employingelectricity as a mo tive power; and it consistsin certain improvementson Letters Patent granted to me September 16, 1884, No. 305,147, for animprovement in electric railways, all of which is fully set forth in thefollowing specification and shown in the accompanying drawings, whichform part thereof.

This invention principally consists in providing solid sectionsinterposed in the supporting and guide rails of flexible material suchas wire cableswhich solid sections are used to guide the cars around thecorners and curves, and to provide suitable supportingbearings forswitches. The cables are arranged, one above the other, at difi'erentlevels from the ground; and in going around quick eurves,such as wouldbe used in cities in passing around streetcorners, one of the solidsections would be of greater radius than the other, so that the actionof centrifugal force on the car will be counteracted and prevent anypossibility of the car leaving the tracks in running at high speeds. Inthe case of branch tracks or sidings a switch-section will have to beinterposed in each of the lines, which switchsection 15 provided with apivoted switch-rail, which may be thrown in line with the branch trackor the main line, and in practice there would be generally two of saidswitches and their sections, one for each of the rails, which switchesmay be simultaneously operated by suitable lever mechanism. Theelectricity in the case of the switch -sections may be conveyed over thebreaks between the main line and the branch line by suitable conductors.

In the drawings, Figure l is a perspective View of a railway embodyingmy improvements, and Fig. 2 is an elevation of same.

'A are the posts upon which the rails are support-ed at differentlevelsfrom the ground, and B B are the mainline cables or rails,

Serial No. 169,347.

(No model.)

their ends are secured to the flexible conduct ors or rails B so that acar, L, in running over therailsOOmay run upon the flexiblesections B Bwithout any apparent jarring, and vice versa, and as centrifugal forcewould tend to throw the car outward in passing around quick curves whenthe speed of the car was great it becomes necessary to locate oneot'said curved railscctions C C larther away from the posts or make itof greater radius, so that the car will be tipped on an incline, andwill hang in an oblique line from thesupportingwvheels. or, in case thesupportingwvheels are below, the car will rest bodily upon the lowerrail.

The rails B are preferably formed of wire cables, but may be of anysuitable flexible material-for instance, in the case of small railway sfor packages and mail deliveries, single wires or rods may be used-andthe sections 0 are preferably formed of steel plates set on edge, andmay, if desired, be suitably braced.

D represents the switch-sections, and consists of the rigid supports Efor the main rails B, and G for the branch rails B, and to the sectionsE are hinged the switches F, and so arranged that they maybe swung fromsec tions E over to sections G, so as to switch the car from the main tothe branch track, or vice versa, and in practice it would be convenientto have both the switches F move simultaneously, and to do this arock-shaft, H, having cranks J may be used, which cranks connect bylinks K with the switches F, and said rock-shaft may be rocked and setin position by crank 1, working over a segment, and provided withsuitable locking mechanism. the upper rails must be separated from eachother, so as to allow the'vertical supportsfrom the car body, and towhich the supportingwheels are secured, to pass between the said Thesections G and E in a sections when the car passes on down the mainline. If desired, the switches F may entirely sever the sections E,though that is hardly necessary, excepting in crossing tracks.

rail-conductors.

In the case of electric roads the current is fed from a dynamo -electricmachine, N, by suitable conductors to the rails B B, one of which actsas a positive conductor, and the other of which acts as a negativeconductor, the motor being carried on the car L, and receiving itselectricity through contact with the wheels which support and guide thecar on In crossing to a branch road, 13, the electricity may be conveyedfrom section E to section G or rails l of said branch road by wireconductor M, which may be arranged in any suitablenianner, and in casethe switches should entirely sever the sections E, then the conductors Mwould also span the said switch-sections.

I do not limit myself to the particular form of switch shown, as it maybe modified in various ways without departing from my invention.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a railway, the flexible main or line rails hung upon supports andarranged at different levels from the ground, in combina tion with rigidcurved sections connecting two portions of the main rails, one of whichrails acts as the positive and the other as the negative conductor ofelectricity, and an electric generator to supply electricity to saidrails, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. Ina railway, the flexible main or line rails hung upon supportsarranged at difi'erent levels from the ground, in combination with rigidcu rved sections connecting two port-ions 0f the main rails, one ofwhich rails acts as the positive and the other as the negative conductorof electricity, and an electric generator to supply electricity to saidrails, and an elec upon said rails and receive electricity therefrom,substantially as and for the purpose specified. I

3. In a railway, the flexible main orline rails hung upon supports andarranged at different levels from the ground, in combination with rigidcurved sections connecting two portions of the main rails, in which oneof the rigid curved rail-sections is of greater radius than the other,to overcome the action of centrifugal force on the car in passing aroundsaid curve, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

4. In a railway, the flexible main or line rails hung upon supports andarranged at difi'erent levels from the ground, in combination 'withrigid switch-carrying sections of rails connecting two portions of themain lines, and switches arranged in each of said switch-sections, thesaid switches being arranged one above the other, substantially as andfor the purpose specified.

5. In a railway, the flexible main or line rails hung upon supports andarranged at different levels from the ground, in combination with rigidswitch-carrying sections of rails connecting two portions of the mainlines, and switches arranged in each of said switch-sections, andmechanism to operate both switches at the same time, substantially asand for the purpose specified.

6. The two flexible line-rails B, in combination with the rigid curvedsections 0 C, an electric generator,-the poles ofwhich connect with'saidline-rails, a car, and contacts to convey the electricity from saidrails through the motor on the car.

In testimony of which invention I hereunto set my hand.

THEOPHILUS P. CHANDLER, J R.

Witnesses:

R. M. HUNTER, JAMES S. PHILLIPS.

